


So Warm

by amyfortuna (elwinfortuna)



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: M/M, Sharing Body Heat, references to slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-06-13
Updated: 2002-06-13
Packaged: 2020-12-27 17:15:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21122372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elwinfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: Anakin needs body heat. Well, maybe he needs a little more than just body heat.





	So Warm

**Author's Note:**

> So I was wondering why Anakin's braid was so short in Episode 2 compared with Obi-Wan's in Episode 1.... This story takes place about two years before AOTC.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was a bright burst of presence in the Force only seconds before the man himself exploded into the room, lightsaber at the ready, glowing bright. It did not take Anakin's whispered "Master" for the slaver to realize he had made a terrible mistake.

Obi-Wan was closer to anger than Anakin had ever seen him. His eyes burned as they raked his naked, chained, body over, then passed swiftly to the man cowering behind him.

"Release him or die," Obi-Wan said, and his voice held no Force in it -- but did not need to. The slaver did not wait to test Obi-Wan's words, but pressed several buttons on a small machine hanging at Anakin's waist, entering in a code of some kind. The chains and the Force-inhibiting collar fell from Anakin's body, and he stepped forward, free.

This time Obi-Wan's voice held the strength of Force-persuasion. "Return to your home planet, resign your commission, and rethink your life."

The slaver's eyes glazed over, as Anakin watched silently, and he repeated the words numbly. Obi-Wan slipped off his cloak, now ignoring the slaver completely.

"Wear this," he said, tossing the cloak at Anakin. "Let's get out of here."

Anakin did not need to be told twice.

* * *

"Did he hurt you, Padawan?" Obi-Wan's voice was still cold with suppressed anger -- not anger at him, Anakin knew that, but anger at the ones who had taken him, and anger at himself for being careless.

"No," Anakin answered. "He tried, but couldn't. Even with the Force-collar on, I still had enough strength to keep him away from me, but not enough to escape."

Obi-Wan glanced over at his padawan, clad in nothing but Obi-Wan's own robe, sitting in the co-pilot's chair calmly, the very picture of a padawan -- except for one thing.

"They cut off your braid," Obi-Wan breathed harshly. "Are you sure they did nothing else to you?"

"Nothing, Master," Anakin said. "No brandings, no marks, no rape."

Obi-Wan let go of the controls of the small starship for a moment, and reached over to brush a finger down Anakin's face. "I'm glad of that, my padawan," he whispered. Then he turned back to the controls. "Let's kick this rust bucket into hyperspace and then get you fixed up."

Anakin held on and watched the stars become streaks.

* * *

Anakin lay on the small bunk in the back of the ship, still unclad, but covered with a blanket now. His master's robe still lay next to him, and Anakin was breathing in the scent of Obi-Wan, clean and fresh, while telling himself over and over that it was okay, that he was safe now.

No, no brandings, no marks, no rape, but it had been a terrible experience that still had him trembling. To taste freedom, have the ability to choose, for nearly eight years, and suddenly be plunged back into the nightmare of his early childhood had been a horror that seemed almost like a dream.

But it had been no dream. Anakin shuddered, thinking of all the others caught in the same slave mill he had been in. There was no hope for them, no Jedi master who would come to rescue them. Just endless toil for the rest of their lives.

"We should have tried to rescue them," Anakin whispered into the folds of Obi-Wan's robe.

"Padawan?" Obi-Wan's voice came to him from the front of the cabin. "Are you all right?"

Anakin tried to center himself and found that he was unable to. "I -- actually, no, Master, I'm not," he said.

Obi-Wan's form appeared against the light, and the master looked at Anakin for a long time, saying nothing. Grief was in his eyes. Finally Anakin simply held out his arms above the blanket, and Obi-Wan stepped forward, sitting down on the bunk beside him and embracing his padawan.

"I was afraid for you, Anakin," Obi-Wan whispered into his padawan's shoulder. "So afraid that I would lose you. I'm so sorry, Padawan. I wish you hadn't had that experience. I know it hurts you, I can feel it."

"It makes me remember," Anakin whispered back. "It makes me angry and sad. It makes me wish we could have saved every other slave there."

Obi-Wan swallowed and looked into Anakin's eyes. "I know." His hands, almost unconsciously, fingered through Anakin's hair to touch the place where the braid had been a few days before. "I wish we could have saved them too. But it was you or nothing, and I couldn't lose you."

Anakin nodded, drawing Obi-Wan down, just a little, to breathe him in. "Stay with me, Master, please," he begged. "Don't go."

"As long as you need me, Padawan, I'll stay," Obi-Wan reassured him. Anakin moved toward the wall, tugging Obi-Wan into the bunk with him. It would just barely fit two people, if they felt like snuggling. Anakin did.

Noting that Obi-Wan had removed his boots and beltkit earlier, Anakin drew the blanket over him, pulling him close. Anakin was naked, but there was still a layer of clothing between them.

"It was so cold in that place," Anakin said. "I felt like I would never get warm again. I felt completely exposed, humiliated. No one touched me, but that almost was the worst thing of all."

Obi-Wan nodded, looking into Anakin's eyes and putting an arm around his waist, as if to tell him nonverbally that he was safe.

"They were afraid of me, you know. And that was somehow what made me most afraid."

"People operating under the influence of fear are unpredictable, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "That is why they are so dangerous."

Anakin crept closer. "Master, you're so warm," he sighed. "I feel like I'm almost beginning to thaw now."

Obi-Wan laughed quietly at that. "It's not cold, Padawan," he said. "And we're safe here."

"It's not physically cold, no," Anakin said. "But people have...different ways of feeling, in the Force. Everyone on the planet, except for a few of the slaves, were like ice. You're like the warm sun on a beautiful day."

Obi-Wan smiled. "It's good to know that, Anakin."

Anakin snuck a hand under Obi-Wan's tunics and laid it against his beating heart. "So warm," he whispered, his voice gone quietly sultry. "So beautiful."

Obi-Wan started to speak, but Anakin leaned forward, lips a kiss away. "I need to touch, Obi-Wan," he said, using his master's proper name for once. "I need to feel. Please?"

"It's not forbidden," Obi-Wan said with a wry smile. "Just don't ask me to marry you."

Anakin raised an eyebrow for assent, and kissed Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan's clothes came off slowly, and piece by piece Anakin got closer to his master's warmth. The sex was gentle and soft, and yes, warm. Obi-Wan's hands sent fire tingling along Anakin's body, and the final sudden spurt of Obi-Wan's semen against Anakin's wrist was a sweet burn.

Anakin licked it away, locking eyes with his master. Obi-Wan was not slow to take the hint. His tongue traced Anakin's body where his hands had been, and still more places.

When it was over and Anakin's breathing died into calmness once more, Obi-Wan did not slip out of the bunk, but curled up next to him and slept with Anakin's arms around him.

Anakin did not fall asleep, but lay silent, for the first time in several days feeling both secure and warm, next to his master.


End file.
